How to Achieve Your Goals: Simple Steps to Success
Coffee & Conversation Summary submitted by Guest Facilitator Adi Klevit, Business Success Consulting Group
During our March Coffee & Conversation, we explored simple and practical steps you can take to be more successful in achieving the goals you have set for yourself or your business. One of the most common barriers that came up during the talk was “not having enough time”. This is a universal problem shared by practically everyone who seeks to achieve something worthwhile, be it big or small. They are limited by the ticking clock and the seemingly endless tasks before them. They worry their goals may never be achieved. But it’s those who take control of their golden hours of production in the most efficient ways possible that rise above this conundrum of time and actually bring their goals to life in the real world!
The simple answer then to achieving your goals is to better organize your day to be more efficient and effective!
First off, there are countless tools to help organize and speed up your production in ways not possible before. Take advantage of these tools by finding out which are best for you and then learning how to use them to their fullest capabilities. For example, tools like ASANA will help you organize your projects and email tasks.
Secondly, but perhaps most important, is sitting down to analyze your workday and determine action by action what you are actually spending your time on. Make a list. Are these actions pushing your goals forward or wasting your precious time? Categorize them as either valid tasks or not valid. Then discard the invalid tasks. This can be an eye-opening exercise that changes the whole outlook of your goals for the better.
From the valid tasks list, find out how much time you spend on each of these actions. What are you spending most of your time on? What should you be spending most of your time on? Do these match up? If not, then find out what your priorities are and adjust the amount of time spent on each accordingly.
Next, so that you don’t find yourself going in different directions, compartment your day and week. Put your actions on a calendar schedule and stay true to it. Plan out your actions strategically to make the most of the time spent on each.
It’s important to also give yourself daily goals. Decide what you are going to achieve that day with your actions. How much will you get done? Make sure that your set realistic targets and then hold yourself accountable to actually achieve them! Reach for daily targets to build up to the longer-term goals you’re aiming for!
Finally, when doing the above, make sure it’s all written out and not just in your head. Make a checklist of the valid tasks. Fill out your calendar. Write out the long-term and short-term goals and the steps to achieve each. Put all of this where you can easily see it. And give yourself the freedom to adjust if you need to, just be sure to keep your actions in alignment with your goals as you go about your day-to-day and week-to-week activities.
Adi Klevit is a process and management consultant and CEO at Business Success Consulting Group.